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U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday (August 9) that he heard about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's remarks on gun rights and Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton and thought that it was a "joke gone bad."
"I have been a little busy today, I heard about this Second Amendment quote, it sounds like a joke gone bad, I hope he clears that up very quickly. You should never joke about something like that. I didn't actually hear the comments but I heard about this comments," Ryan said during a news briefing after winning a primary for his congressional seat in a race overshadowed by presidential candidate Donald Trump's brief refusal last week to endorse his fellow Republican.
Trump suggested on Tuesday that gun rights activists could act to stop Democratic rival Hillary Clinton from nominating liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices, igniting yet another fire storm of criticism just as he sought to steer clear of controversy.
The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear firearms.
Clinton is leading in national opinion polls in the race for the Nov. 8 election.
Some in the audience in North Carolina who were seated behind Trump could be seen wincing when he made the comment.
Clinton's campaign called the remark "dangerous."
When asked to clarify what Trump meant, his campaign said he was referring to getting supporters of the Second Amendment to rally votes for Trump in the election.
Immediately after Trump made his comment, many on social media accused him of effectively calling for Clinton's assassination. In just three hours, 2nd amendment became the top trending topic on Twitter, with more than 60,000 posts mentioning the term.